N.C. Republican Candidate Who Said 'God Is a White Supremacist' Earns 37 Percent of Vote
A North Carolina Republican House candidate who said "God is a racist and a white supremacist" earned more than 8,500 votes in his District 48 race against an African-American minister.
Russell Walker did not defeat Democratic incumbent Garland Pierce in the North Carolina district, which includes Scotland and Hoke counties, but the candidate who repeatedly asked, "What's wrong with being a white supremacist?" managed to acquire 37 percent of the vote. In 2017, Walker filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to keep Confederate flags and portraits of Confederate generals in South Carolina courtrooms. And Walker told reporters last year that he believes Martin Luther King Jr. "wanted to destroy the Caucasian race through mixing and integration."
Pierce has served in the North Carolina General Assembly since being elected in 2004, and he is currently the Democratic Conference Chair.
Walker has written extensively on a website tied to him about biblical conspiracies, including that "the Jews are not Semitic they are satanic as they all descend from Satan... God made the races and he is the greatest racist ever."
But those in his North Carolina district who feared he could be elected were able to breathe a sigh of relief Tuesday as Walker's 8,588 votes fell short of Pierce's 14,709 votes. Pierce acquired about 63 percent of the overall vote in the district on Election Day as North Carolina Democrats broke the GOP's veto-proof control of the legislature. Democrats fell short of winning the 16 additional House seats and 11 additional Senate seats needed to retake majorities in the state for the first time since the 2010 election.
Walker repeatedly lashed out at the Republican Party for not putting their support behind him after his racist musings were discovered online. The GOP withdrew its official support for Walker in June.
"Based on recent behavior and previous statements, the North Carolina Republican Party is unable and unwilling to support the Republican nominated candidate for North Carolina House District 48," GOP chairman Robin Hayes said in a statement provided to The Charlotte Observer. "The NCGOP along with our local parties in Hoke, Scotland and Robeson Counties will be spending our time and resources supporting Republican candidates that better reflect the values of our party."
Uncommon Knowledge
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